(Guest post by Akansha Arora)

3 Things Leaders Can Do To Increase Employee Engagement

Employee engagement is one of the most talked about issues in an organization and a lot of managers spend their time looking for ways to improve their stats related to employee engagement. Still, the stats are mostly never up to the mark and fail all the efforts. So what is it that as a leader you could do to increase employee engagement in your organization? The following article talks about understanding employee engagement completely and things leaders can do to increase it.

To Start With

Engagement statistics do not change in an organization for years even if there are number of efforts to improve them. It is a sure fact that people cannot suddenly become passionate about the company’s missions and goals. In fact, leaders know that they can’t make their people suddenly engaged, so they know to take slow measures that can produce results in the long run.

What is employee engagement after all?  Engaged Employees are happy employees! Engaged Employees are satisfied employees!

It’s the emotional connection that employees have with their organization. Emotionally connected people are the ones that work for the organization and drive numbers up. Happy employees work for themselves and they also enjoy investing time into multiple projects and personal passions. If they don’t feel like they’re growing or contributing to something, they may begin searching for a new organization with their resume ready for job search.

Some Facts on Employee Engagement

Before going onto how to increase employee engagement, here are some useful  facts about employee engagement:

  • 9 in 10 employees quit jobs due to the managers and not the organization;
  • Employees who work for engaged managers are more engaged;
  • Employees are more engaged if their manager helps them set their performance goals;
  • Focus on employee weaknesses leads to disengagement of employee.

So employee motivation has a major role to play in the process of increasing engagement. A leader is responsible for keeping employees engaged or disengaged.

Employee engagement is a competitive advantage that helps a good company convert into a great one. It is easier for the employees to become disinterested rather than being engaged; keeping them engaged is important to avoid becoming a static.

Here is what leaders should do in order to keep their employees engaged:

#1 Pave the way towards Certainty

Converting the new into routine is the role of a leader within an organization. Paving the way towards consistency means giving guidance to the workforce towards the right direction. Small changes can led to bigger things and consistent leaders should keep the employees informed and find ways that make it easy for them to adopt novelty.

#2 Keep Proper Communication

Talking and keeping proper communication is one of the key points that can help a leader keep employees engaged. Communicating and asking your people about what they think and discussing new initiatives will keep them engaged with the organization.

#3 Explain Every Why

Employees need to understand every why behind any decision made in the organization. This is more common in start-ups. Without information, people have the right to interpret. With the information about any happenings in the organization broadens their knowledge of know-hows of the organization. Also, hosting meeting updates maintains the engagement and keeps people in their current business area.

To Conclude With

Employee engagement is an emotional connection that the employee feels from within when he/she is ready to take up the responsibility. The willingness to be a part of the missions and visions of the organization can come from the motivation that the leaders are able to provide. Building trust with the help of feedback and input on regular basis.

Engaged employees are more successful than the routine workers. This is because being engaged differentiates them from the mediocre and make them high performers responsible for defining company’s success.

Author Bio: Akansha Arora is a professional writer and blogger who loves to pen down her views on a number of topics that interest a reader. Career advice, employee motivation, job search, online courses and resume writing are some of the areas she expertizes in. You can follow her on Google+.

Image credit: Sebastiaan ter Burg under C.C.2.0